Johann Kristjan Eyfells passed away peacefully on December 3, 2019 at the age of 96.  Johann was born on June 21, 1923 in Reykjavik, Iceland.  He was preceded in death by his parents, Eyjolfur Jonsson Eyfells and Ingibjorg (Einarsdottir) Eyfells, his brother Einar Eyfells, sister Kristin Eyfells and his wife Kristin (Halldorsdottir) Eyfells, all of Iceland.  Johann is survived by his son, Ingolfur Eyfells and his wife Hrafnhildur (Gudmundsdottir) Eyfells, three grandsons, Gudmundur Eyfells and wife Debbi (Sochia) Eyfells of San Antonio, Texas, Johann Kristjan Eyfells and wife Audur Ogmundardottir, and Eyjolfur Eyfells and wife Masumi (Nishizawa) Eyfells, and five great grandchildren all of Gardabaer, Iceland.

While studying at Berkeley, Johann met Kristin Halldorsdottir, dress shop owner, designer and businesswoman.  They married in 1949 and moved to Florida where they finished their studies.  Johann earned a Bachelor's Degree in Architecture in 1953 and later a Master's Degree in Fine Art in 1964 from the University of Florida in Gainesville.   In 1969 he joined the art department at the Florida Technological Institute (now the University of Central Florida.)

After retiring from the University, Johann moved to a small ranch in the Texas Hill Country just outside of Fredericksburg where he continued to create and exhibit both his work and his wife Kristin's paintings and sculptures.  He enjoyed having visitors of all ages drop by the Eyfells and Eyfells art studio and was always happy to give them a tour.

Johann was a prolific sculptor and professor at the University for over 30 years and was known to many as the "Grandfather of Sculpture."  He was a master at producing abstract sculptures having an intuitive understanding of the principles of physics and chemistry with a touch of mysticism, understanding the properties of molten metals, especially copper, aluminum and iron and their transformation of metal through concrete.  These ventures allowed him to coin the neologism "receptualism."  From his webpage, "…receptualism presupposes difference as essence and ascribes eternal qualities exclusively to aesthetic and ethical modes of existence," His work was shown at the 1972 Munich Olympics, The Corcoran Gallery of Art in 2001, he represented his native Iceland at the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993, and was featured at the United Nations "Towards a Society of All Ages: World Artists in the Millennium" exhibit in 1999, to name a few.    This dedication to his artwork epitomizes who Johann was throughout his life.  He was the very essence of a person from the book Independent People by the Icelandic Nobel Prize winning author Halldor Laxness.  While not having visited his homeland for many decades, the fire and ice that form and shape Iceland were always in his heart, mind and soul.  His knowledge and work reflected this energy, and while his earthly form is no longer with us, he will continue, "to be."